'Das Rheingold'

Who: Los Angeles Opera

Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

When: Feb. 21

Next: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25, March 5 and 11; 2 p.m. March 1, 8 and 15.

How much: $20-$250

Call: 213-972-8001

Online: www.laopera.com

Achim Freyer is a brilliant genius. I think he's my hero, too. Saturday night he accomplished the impossible. He made me - an imperfect Wagnerite if there ever was one - wish that "Das Rheingold" was even longer. Forgive my awe.

Los Angeles Opera's long-awaited, $32 million production of Richard Wagner's "Ring" cycle has finally opened. Freyer, a German painter among other things, is the director/designer of the production. He has invented his own theatrical language - a particular kind of movement (mostly slowish) and extravagant visuals, part avant-garde, a little comic book, certainly surreal, and very, very colorful. Just to look at his "Das Rheingold" is to be entertained, but it's even better than that. Finally, we have a director who not only can keep up with Wagner, but who offers an art work of his own on the same exalted level.

Freyer, despite appearances to the contrary, is no revisionist. His "Rheingold" may look weird (at first), but it is true to Wagner's vision. It does not change the meaning of the work, but, rather, re-envisions it in its own, deeply probing style. Everything is there for a reason, a good reason, and in deciphering those reasons, a viewer understands Wagner better and actually hears it more vividly.

A lot of what Freyer does is wildly fanciful, a perfect match to the magical, mythical world of "Rheingold." And not all of it is rocket science. It's really quite literal. Take Loge, for instance. He's the god of fire. And so, Freyer makes him into - what else? - a flame (or flames), vivid red all over, with pointy hair and shoulders. He's on fire. Look a little longer. He's also got four arms and hands (in white gloves) and wears a bow tie and red sneakers. Loge, you see, is also a trickster, a deceiver not to be trusted, and Freyer's costume brings out the charlatan in this god.

It's that way with all the spacey garb. Proportion is important. Fricka, the pain in the neck wife of Wotan, always moaning and nagging, has these long arms, perpetually frozen in a pleading gesture. The dwarfs Alberich and Mime have big heads (that fit right over the singers' heads), making their bodies look smaller. The giants Fafner and Fasolt hold up huge magnifying glasses in front of their faces to suggest their size. The costumes of Wotan, king of the gods but flawed, lend meaning to his physical shortcoming - he is one-eyed, literally encaged by his deformity.

The action takes place mostly on and around a large, raked turntable (that didn't rotate that often in "Rheingold). The gods stand around in, or behind, large costumes, and then can come out from behind them, emerging more vulnerable and human. Silent doubles are a big part, miming movements and thoughts as the singers mention them. The theatrical machinery is breathtaking. Giant hands sweep the stage as the giants take Freia away, or battle each other. Loge makes a dazzling entrance (or three or four Loges) skipping across the stage, strobe lights flashing. A transparent scrim fronts the stage, upon which Freyer projects all sorts of lighting effects, all striking. Erda, goddess of the earth, emerges through the floor, and a swirl turns and turns around her on the scrim - a 3D effect.

Many of the effects are low tech, amounting to puppetry. I loved when Alberich, with the help of the Tarnhelm (a gold top hat, here -- think about it), turns himself into a dragon. Wires pull him high into the sky, trailing a dragon's tail made of billowing cloth behind him. And L.A. Opera should seriously consider putting an Alberich the Frog doll, complete with top hat, on sale in the lobby.

The thing is wondrous from beginning to end. The singing's not bad either. Though few of these Wagnerians can pin you to your seats, all of the singers provided at least solid, well honed performances. Arnold Bezuyen's Loge was a standout, merry and quick, his phrasing given the punch and pace of spoken word. Vitalij Kowaljow's noble but expressive Wotan bided its time until ringing climax. Michelle DeYoung's Fricka had plenty of pop and steel. Gordon Hawkins (Alberich), Morris Robinson (Fasolt), Graham Clark (Mime) and Wayne Tigges (Donner) also distinguished themselves, not least with their acting.

James Conlon led the L.A. Opera Orchestra in a calm and possessed reading in the pit. At first, it seemed a little too poised, but then it became clear. This was an intimate, detailed, unexaggerated, almost chamber music reading, clean and pure.

At the end, there were plenty of bravos to greet Freyer, and a few boos, too. Well. De gustibus non est disputandum. I stand by my opening statement. Achim Freyer is a brilliant genius.

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